ICED EARTH's JON SCHAFFER: 'Television Is The Most Dangerous Weapon Of All'

Metal Blast conducted an interview with ICED EARTH mainman/guitarist Jon Schaffer at this year's edition of the Bloodstock Open Air festival, which was held August 9-12 at Catton Park, Derbyshire in the United Kingdom. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.

Metal Blast: "Sons Of Liberty" [the name of Schaffer's solo project] was also the name of an organization in Colonial America that combated the abuses of the Crown. Do you see that this is the situation right now, that America needs to be protected from an enemy?

Jon: Yes, of course I do. But I think that the enemy is running the country, that's the difference. Back then it was a foreign enemy — I mean, obviously they had their minions in control of government in a lot of places… but today is a very different situation. The United States is run by the criminals on Wall Street, the criminal banks, which are the owners of the federal reserve system. It's a big banking cartel, it's not one system, it's not federal and there are no reserves, it's Goldman Sachs, it's Deutsche Bank, it's a lot of European oligarchs and royals that have interbred and own the system. They've controlled America for a long time and they still give us the illusion that we're free and that we're independent, but we're not. They have a very disturbing agenda for the future of humanity and I think that it is clear, if you really pay attention and read their writings. To the average person, when I talk about this, I come off as a raving lunatic because they just sit around, watch TV and obsess over football and other stupid shit. But dude, there are big things happening out there in the world… I mean, they've been happening for a long time, it's not new. I was a victim of propaganda for many years in my life; everybody is capable of waking up… it's just about at what point it really hits you that we're in serious trouble, and then about what your spirit tells you to do… mine told me to start SONS OF LIBERTY.

Metal Blast: I think that one of the problems that people with your convictions face is that the media presents them in an unfair way. For instance, in the case of Ron Paul (a politician that, when it comes to foreign politics and civil liberties, I really admire) he was always shown as, "Well, here's Ron Paul, but he's going to lose." Well, if you keep presenting him as a "sure loser" before the competition even begins… probably!

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Jon: People always say that, and the media is controlled by the bad guys, trust me. The media whores that you see on the screen, they're teleprompter-reading asswipes, they're completely uninformed. The people in the control room are informed — that's why it's called the "control room" — and they have an agenda, and it's a system that has infected every part of our society, every part in the West.
Ron Paul is the man; he is the only guy that understands what's happening in American politics, but he can't save it, the people are the only ones that can save it. You have to save it on a community level, on a local level. The federal government is criminal, it's out of control… just fuck it, let it collapse itself. The people in America should just step away from it, make their communities strong, root out corruption in their local community. If you're a good man, you go and run for office on the town council, you take control of their power centers, you try to do it,

Metal Blast: The problem is that people tend to think in terms of "I'm just one person, so what can I possibly do?", forgetting the fact that every big change and every revolution is just a sum of individuals.

Jon: The bad thing is that television is the most dangerous weapon of all. Yes, it is a weapon, I don't care what anybody says, it controls people, it controls their thoughts; it's a mind-control system, and if you sit down and you watch it, you put yourself into a state of mind where you're not really thinking objectively, you're just agreeing with whatever is there. Human beings are easily susceptible and, believe me, the Pentagon knows this and the manipulators, they know how to fuck with the people. They know what it takes.

Metal Blast: Although people may absorb everything they see on TV, not making rational judgments or assessments between everything there, the problem is that a similar phenomenon occurs with conspiracy theories, since once you find out that the government lied about something, you're too eager to believe that everything is a lie, and you might end up among those who say the moon landing never happened. You're probably familiar with Jesse Ventura, right?

Jon: Yeah, sure.

Metal Blast: Well, he had this show called "Conspiracy Theory", where some of the things seemed rational enough, and other were nothing but completely irrational and downright crazy speculation. Do you find that, because of this phenomenon, when you try to present your views, you end being grouped with nutjobs?

Jon: I don't buy everything that Jesse Ventura, Alex Jones or anybody says. I focus on the stuff that I can prove, and that's the financial system, the finance oligarchs and the royal bloodlines of Europe and their fucking schemes, what they've been up to and how they've been interbred with each other (I think they get crazier and crazier with every generation). I mean, if you want to talk about aliens don't talk to me, because I can't prove it. Do I think it's impossible? Hell no, I think it's very possible, but I can't prove it; however, I can definitely prove that my government is completely criminal and completely out of control, and that it works for these global corporations that don't pay any taxes in the U.S., even if they name themselves as American corporations, because they're not. You can name yourself United States corporation, but if you're out there in the fucking Caribbean not paying any taxes in America, then you're not American, you're out there destroying the world for your own benefit, and this criminal government goes along with it… And so does the government in the U.K., in many parts of Germany and all over the West, it's a global system, it's the New World Order, a corporate takeover.

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